The oil filter assembly and oil used for lubrication of an internal combustion engine (ICE) of a vehicle are consumables having a finite useful life and therefore require periodic replacement to avoid damage to the engine and/or related engine components. At the end of its useful life, the oil may lose its ability to sufficiently lubricate the engine, such that engine components may wear or seize. The oil filter assembly, also commonly referred to as the oil filter, or the filter, at the end of its useful life, may lose its ability to filter contaminants from the oil, water degradation of the filter media may occur, the filter may become blocked such that oil flow through the engine is decreased or stopped, or the filter may otherwise deteriorate such that oil is leaked from the engine through the canister, attachment portion, and/or gasket of the oil filter assembly.
Replacement of the oil filter assembly and the engine oil, where the replacement of both the filter and the oil is commonly referred to as an “oil change,” represents an engine operating expense. To minimize this engine operating expense, it is advantageous to maximize the time between oil changes, e.g., it is advantageous to maximize the oil change limit.
Currently, vehicle manufacturers provide a recommended engine oil change limit, which may be alternately expressed in terms of time in service and miles in service, such that when the first occurring one of these limits is met, an oil change is recommended. Because significant damage to the combustion engine and/or vehicle may occur if the oil and/or oil filter is not changed prior to the end of the useful life of the oil and/or oil filter, and because the useful life of the oil filter and the oil vary with the oil quality, customer driving profile, fuel quality, and vehicle geographic location, the vehicle manufacturer's recommended engine oil change limits are typically set based on, for example, near worst case conditions, to minimize the risk of engine damage due to degradation of the oil or the oil filter.
Oil change limits have historically been developed and validated using data obtained from combustion engines in non-hybrid powertrains. Oil change limits correlating to vehicle miles in service, for example, may be based on monitoring engine revolutions of the ICE in the vehicle. In a hybrid powertrain where, for example, the vehicle is operated for a significant portion of time for significant distances using an electric motor or other non-ICE power source, engine operating revolutions (cycles) in service are significantly reduced and no longer correlate to total vehicle miles.